


How to make your crush fall in love with you in three easy steps

by Gay_Natasha_Saves_The_World



Series: the muggle rural american au because I said so [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, English, Falling In Love, Fluff, Gay, High School, Insecurity, Literature, M/M, Percy is still a giant literature nerd, References to Frankenstein, Teenagers, Texting, it's in america because I said so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28698156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gay_Natasha_Saves_The_World/pseuds/Gay_Natasha_Saves_The_World
Summary: Percy was a nerd who couldn't hold a conversation if his life depended on it and Oliver knew he had to somehow make him his.
Relationships: Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood
Series: the muggle rural american au because I said so [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103612
Comments: 16
Kudos: 102





	1. Acquire a target

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, y'all this is yet again another prequel because I never learn. Anyways thank you, Aubrey, for reading it and shit and follow Ezmiho on Soundcloud because he's the only Soundcloud rapper that reads Perciver fanfiction.

Percy was dreading the new semester. Not only did the school mess up his whole schedule, taking him out of AP literature and put him into the normal class, they also refused to fix it despite his pleas. He had been complaining about this to anyone who would listen to his rants. 

“What useful discussions could I possibly have in this class? They barely even care about what they’re reading.” Percy complained to his friends before school started. “It’s only 4 months, Percy, plus it's an easy A.” Penny replied lightheartedly. “I don't take classes for an ‘easy A’. And we’ve already read all these books in the first semester. This is going to be my living nightmare.” He sighed as the bell for the first period rang. Penny gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he headed to junior English.

He entered Mr. Lupin’s classroom trying to hide the awkwardness he felt. Now, He had nothing against the teacher. He enjoyed his class last year, but AP literature was leagues ahead of the other classes so he would be doing a lot of reviewing and not a lot of learning. He found no point in it.

The whiteboard clearly stated they had to choose new seats for themselves. Since Percy was one of the first in the class, the coveted window seat was open. He put his coat on the back of the chair and sat down. 

Clearly either everyone else had a friend in this class or Percy gave off bad energy because the other seat at his table was still unoccupied and almost everyone else was in class. He told himself he didn’t really care, after all, it would mean less chance of people annoying him, but if he was being honest it did hurt a little bit. 

It was about 30 seconds after the bell rang when the door swung open. A clearly out of breath student walked in. He looked around and saw the only open seat was the one right next to Percy.  
“Is this seat taken?” He asked Percy, who was already focused on his laptop. He gave a quick head shake in response and sat down next to him. And with that class started.

“Good morning, class. I hope you like your seat partners because, after last semester's fiasco, I’m only letting people change seats in certain situations.” Mr. Lupin explained as he walked away from his desk and towards the front of the room. Percy didn’t even want to know what happened before. In AP Literature they didn’t even have assigned seating. Strange.

Percy was kind of half-listening as he was too occupied with his own thoughts. He was listening enough to know the next book they were reading was Jekyll and Hyde. He had already read it last semester and wasn’t particularly fond of it. Good thing he saved his notes so he wouldn’t have to read them again.

“And so your first project with your new seat partner is to make a slideshow about the life of Robert Louis Stevenson. Don’t worry I won’t make you present if everyone takes this seriously.” Mr. Lupin finished, leaving the class to their own devices.

“Well, it looks like we’re partners. I’m Oliver by the way.” He turned towards Percy who was fishing his copy of the book out of his bag. “I guess we are. My name is Percy.” He said, extending his hand, which Oliver promptly shook. 

“So, were you listening to the teacher?” Oliver asked. Percy chuckled. “Not really but I already read Jekyll and Hyde last semester so I didn’t really need to.” He opened slides on his laptop to at least start on the project.

“Oh,” Oliver responded. He didn’t remember seeing Percy last semester so the class he was in was probably ahead. “What did you think of it?” Might as well try to gauge the amount of pain he’d feel for the next few weeks. “I thought it was Frankenstein for people who hate women,” Percy said without much emotion. 

“Well, I haven’t read either of them.” Oliver laughed. “Maybe you should then.” Percy shrugged. It was clear Oliver was trying to stall doing the project. Percy honestly didn’t mind doing the bulk of the project, he was expecting it, but it would be decent to let him focus so he could get it done. 

Oliver noticed this and shut up. He tried to help when he could. Googling a few facts, formatting slides, but Percy did a lot of the work. Before either of them knew it, the slides were three-quarters of the way done and the class was over. Percy quickly put his stuff away and walked out before Oliver could even process the bell rang. If Percy was gonna be like this the whole semester, he wasn’t gonna enjoy it. He wondered if his table partner being a know-it-all, unfriendly prick would constitute ‘certain situations’ to Mr. Lupin. Probably not. At least he will get good grades on group projects.

The next few weeks went by without much incident. Percy had stopped complaining so much about the class to his friends' delight. And he had also warmed up to Oliver a bit more. He helped him with a lot of the work that came with Jekyll and Hyde. At least his grade was improving in one class so his parents don’t have that to use against him. 

Percy was actually starting to enjoy the class because of Oliver. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of their chats. They weren’t stimulating like the ones with his other friends but maybe it was a good thing. Oliver was someone he could just talk to.

But Percy knew they were different and that after the school year was over it was unlikely they would interact much. They led different lives that would’ve never crossed each other’s path if Percy’s schedule was messed up. It was unlikely they would have another class together next year so he was trying to make the most of this.

One day Oliver found himself in the library during lunch. It was extremely unlike him but he needed a book for history class so it was as good of a time as any. While he was looking through the section on the industrial revolution he noticed Percy sitting at a table with his friends.

“Cinema peaked with But I’m A Cheerleader and you cannot convince me otherwise.” The girl sitting next to Percy exclaimed. He thinks her name is Penny but he wouldn’t bet money on it. But that didn’t matter, he was more focused on Percy. The way he was trying to hold back his laughter. Oliver couldn’t describe it in any way other than enchanting. 

He didn’t really understand this. Percy was his friend, of course, but over the past few days, his feelings started to change. He wanted to be the person to make Percy laugh like that. He wanted to make him happy. ‘Holy shit, I’m in love with Percy.’ A shocking realization.

He didn’t even realize he was staring at him until Percy waved at him. He waved back and quickly walked away. “That was fucking creepy.” He mumbled to himself. It was likely that Percy didn’t even like him in that way. He had to find a way to make him somewhat desirable. And he knew exactly where to start.

He walked towards the fiction section. It was organized by the author's last name. Fuck what was the author’s name. He brought out his phone and did a quick search. The S’s were on another shelf so he went by scanning them. Sa, Se, Sh, bingo. He picked up the last copy that was in the library and went to the front counter. If Percy wasn’t going to fall for him at least he would get smarter after this.


	2. Make Yourself Desirable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy is starting to question his feelings about Oliver while Oliver tries everything in his power to prove to Percy he's sort of an intellectual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!Contains spoilers to the movie But I'm A Cheerleader!! Midnight fic release gotta keep yall on your toes. I already bought myself the thing I said was gonna be the reward for finishing this fanfic so now I'm speedrunning. Anyways, Follow Ezmiho on Soundcloud if you're a cool cat.

“I swear film studies attract the worst type of people,” Penny sighed as she sat down at the library table with her friends. “This Tarantino fanboy was trying to talk to me about Pulp Fiction and then acted like I killed his dog when I said I didn’t like it. Cinema peaked with But I’m A Cheerleader and you can’t convince me otherwise.”

“Oh please, what’s so good about that movie?” Cedric complained. “Ummm, it’s gay, it’s a commentary about how gender roles are bullshit, it has a happy ending, and prince Zuko is in it,” Penny argued while she was opening her lunch.

“I would hardly call getting disowned by your family and being homeless a happy ending.”

“Did you not pay attention to the movie at all? First of all, they weren’t homeless; they were staying with Larry and Lloyd Morgan-Gordon. And second of all the last scene of the movie shows Megan’s parents in a support group for people with gay children so clearly they didn’t disown her.” Penny could deal with a lot of bullshit, but someone saying But I’m A Cheerleader was a bad movie was not one of them.

Percy however found this hilarious, but he was trying to hold in his laughter since they were in a library and his laugh was notoriously loud. Penny and Cedric were continuing to argue about the movie and Percy managed to gain composure. That’s when he noticed Oliver looking at him from next to a shelf.

He gave him a small friendly wave before he walked away of embarrassment. Strange. But Percy decided not to think a lot about it. 

“Was that your boyfriend?” Penny teased Percy. “Don’t be ridiculous, it's just my friend from English.” He replied trying everything he could not make his face blush. “Oh, so he’s the person we have to thank for getting you to finally shut up about it.” Cedric laughed.

There was no hiding Percy’s blush now. “Oh wait, I get it. He’s not your boyfriend but you want him to be.” Penny exclaimed like this was a great revelation. “No!” Percy said a bit louder than he meant to, earning a harsh glare from Ms. Pince. “He’s just my friend. Besides, I doubt he’s gay, and even if he is, how would he know I’m gay.”

“Your computer screensaver is literally a picture of Oscar Wilde. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.” Cedric replied matter-of-factly. Percy couldn’t even muster a reply to that. Yes, Cedric was right but that still didn’t prove that he would have any chance of ever being with Oliver.

I mean just look at him. He’s a lanky, ginger nerd who was too shy to have more than 2 good friends and Oliver was a gorgeous and popular star sports player. Even if Oliver was gay, why would he want to be with him when he could be with any other boy in school?

Before he knew it, lunch ended and he had to go on with his day. But the thought of Oliver would be on his mind for the rest of the day. 

Oliver was extremely tired after soccer practice. Besides the growing mountain of homework he had, he wanted to read the book for Percy. As much as he wanted to ignore it, if he did his grades would drop even lower and he would absolutely be kicked from the team. So the book could wait for now.

By the time he was done with his homework, he felt like he was about to pass out. But he HAD to read the book. It couldn’t be that hard to read, right? After all, he watched the movie with his parents a few years ago. 

Oliver couldn’t even get past page 3 of Frankenstein before almost dozing. “I thought there was supposed to be a monster…” He mumbled to himself as he set the book down. He decided that he will try again tomorrow. If that didn’t work he would just SparkNotes it. It was almost 11 pm anyway.

For the next week, Oliver spent virtually every bit of the little free time he had reading Frankenstein. It was deceptively small for the amount of effort it took to read it. But late one night, he finally finished it.

The amount he took in was debatable but he understood enough to prove he read it. Just as he was thinking about messaging Percy about it, his phone beeped. He picked it up to see Percy had already messaged him.

ThatPercival: Do you still need help with the English homework?

Oliver.Would: Nah, I figured it out.

ThatPercival: Oh, okay.

Oliver.Would: I’ve been getting better at English this semester lol. I actually just finished reading Frankenstein.

ThatPercival: Really? What did you think about it?

Oliver.Would: I thought you were right about it being a better Jekyll and Hyde.

ThatPercival: Right? Mary Shelley did it first and better. I don’t know why we don’t read it instead. 

Oliver.Would: If you got to pick the books we read in school people would actually pay more attention. 

ThatPercival: I doubt they would pay any more attention to Pride and Prejudice or the Picture of Dorian Gray than they already do when they’re reading The Great Gatsby. But I would have more fun. 

Oliver.Would: Touche. But at least we would be reading better books. You don’t even understand how boring English was before you came along.

ThatPercival: Speaking of English, what happened in the first semester that made Mr. Lupin have assigned seating? He never did that last year.

Oliver.Would: Oh yeah, Marcus Flint punched someone in the face over a seat. 

ThatPercival: Asgjfhksdfkfdj What????

Oliver.Would: Yeah some kid sat in the seat he usually sat in, they argued about it for a few minutes and then he just punched him. He got suspended for a few weeks and Mr. Lupin had to change the rules. It was the only notable thing that happened in the first half of the year.

ThatPercival: That seems like a pretty severe reaction for someone sitting in your seat.  
Oliver.Would: Yeah lol.

The conversation died after that and Percy felt quite sad about it. He would talk to Oliver all night if he could. It didn’t matter if he would see him in the morning. He’s found himself wanting to talk to Oliver about everything. Found a meme about the book they read in class? He would send it to Oliver. His siblings did something generally annoying? He would let off steam by talking to Oliver.

He still talked to Penny and Cedric about the random shit they always talked about, but he wanted to talk to Oliver way more. It just felt more, natural? Why would it feel more natural? He’s known Penny and Cedric since middle school and he’s known Oliver for like 3 months. 

He put his phone on his bedside table and sighed heavily. All of this was just so confusing. He could read and understand some of the most advanced works in literature but his brain was a different story. Oliver made him feel an emotion he couldn’t describe.

His pondering was cut off by the ungodly noise his siblings were making seemingly right outside his door. They always seemed to do this at the worst times. It was 10:30 at night, what could they possibly be doing? Before he even got to the door, his mom was already telling them off.

Now he could return to trying to decode his feelings for Oliver. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Penny said a few weeks ago. Did he really want Oliver to be his boyfriend? Okay, maybe there was some truth in that. But there was still no way Oliver would want to be his boyfriend. 

So what if he read a book he mentioned once? Maybe he was just trying to be friendly or expanding his literary horizons. That doesn’t mean he wants Percy to be his boyfriend. Why would he want to be his boyfriend? The two of them couldn’t have been more different.

But he shouldn’t waste time thinking about it. He had to sleep. He put his phone on the charger, turned his lights off, got into bed, and tried not to think about how madly in love with Oliver he was.


	3. Just F!$%^*! Kiss Him Already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy was left at school with no one to pick him up. When Oliver saw him after soccer practice he knew this had to be the time to confess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know what possessed me to write chapters this fast. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this story and followed Ezmiho on Soundcloud. He is very invested in my successful career as a fanfic author.

Oliver has been trying everything he could for the past two months to get Percy to like him. He’s been paying more attention to his appearance, he’s been reading the books Percy talked about, he’s even been giving him gifts and shit. But Percy had no noticeable change in affections towards him. He’s done everything but tell him. 

He knows he should just tell him but he was so scared. What if Percy didn’t like him at all? What if he rejected him and it ruined their friendship? What if he was straight and thought Oliver was a creep. He knew that eventually he had to rip off the bandaid but it never seemed like the right time. Would it ever be the right time?

He couldn’t help but imagine what being his boyfriend would be like. Hanging out with him every day, letting him talk about all the smart shit despite him barely understanding it, sneaking off before practice to make out in his truck, being able to say he’s the most beautiful person in the world without being creepy. A smile always crept onto his lips when he thought about it.

And Percy felt the same way, he just wasn’t good at showing it. He noticed all the things Oliver was doing but he didn’t think it was because he liked him. He couldn’t possibly like him, right?

He’s seen Oliver around the school with his other friends. His friends were more attractive, charming, and socially apt than he will ever be. What does he have that Oliver could want? He couldn’t understand it.

He was fine being his friend. At least he told himself that. 

It was 4:30 pm. Charlie should have picked him up by now. He had to stay late at school for the classic literature club. He knew his parents weren’t able to pick him up and told his brother to but it’s been 30 minutes. Cell service at the school was shit but the text went through and he didn’t get a response.

It wasn’t like he could just walk home. It was a 15-minute drive to get to school and it was downpouring. So he either had to wait for his brother to respond or for his parents to get off work. And that could easily be a couple of hours. 

The school was already closed for the night so that means those couple of hours would be spent outside. This was gonna be the longest couple hours of his life. He sighed and threw his head back to the wall. This couldn’t possibly get worse. 

Another 30 minutes had passed, still no reply from his brother. The rain still hadn’t stopped, if anything it got worse. The cold was starting to get to him as well. Between the rain still hitting him from under the overhang he parked himself at for the last hour, the frigid air was making his face and fingers numb. Why was the air so cold, it was May? There had to be someone who could drive him home. There just had to be.

“Percy? What are you still doing at school?” Oliver asked as he turned the corner. Percy slightly jumped from the surprise. “My brother was supposed to pick me up after school but I guess he forgot,” Percy chuckled uncomfortably, “What are you doing here?” 

“I just got out of soccer practice.” Oliver paused for a moment. This conversation seemed more awkward than the ones they had before. “If you still need a ride, I can drive you.”

“Yeah, okay.” Percy got up to follow Oliver to his truck. He put his hood up to not get wet and walked right next to him. 

They were both extremely wet when they got to the truck. Percy and Oliver were practically shivering. 

“Thanks for this. I had no idea if I’d get picked up by someone.” Percy said while he was texting his brother he got a ride. “It’s really no problem. I’d do it anytime, for you.” Oliver responded 

“Yeah, I guess that’s what friends do. But I’m still grateful, you know.” Percy tried to move one wet curl out of his face as he talked. Oliver groaned at this. The word friends hurt him more than it usually did. He couldn’t stand being just his friend anymore.

“Is something wrong?” Percy asked with genuine concern. “What do I have to do to make you realize I don’t just want to be your friend, Percy?” Oliver pained as he confessed. “What do you mean?” his full attention was now to Oliver. 

“I mean,” He hesitated for a second. “I mean I’ve been trying everything I could think of to get you to even possibly think of me as more than a friend. I don’t know what else to do besides tell you.” 

Percy was trying to comprehend this. His crush just confessed to him. This can’t possibly be happening. No this has to be some sort of prank. He quickly looked out the windows to see if anyone was around waiting to laugh at him.

Oliver was confused. This wasn’t one of the reactions he was expecting. It felt like forever before Percy finally responded.

“This has to be a joke, right?” Oliver's heart broke a little.

“Why would it be a joke, Percy?” 

“Because,” Percy threw his hands down in defeat. “Why would you want to be with me when you could be with anyone else.” Oliver sighed in frustration. “I don’t like anyone else, I like you.” 

“But why?” Percy was starting to sound a bit hysterical. “I don’t have anything going for me?” 

“What are you even talking about.” 

“I’m not charming or attractive or good at sports or anything. I can’t understand what you see in me.” The rain seemed extremely loud in his ear. The tension in the car was so thick Percy debated just leaving and getting away from it. 

“You don’t see yourself as I see you, Percy,” Oliver whispered. “The day I first met you, I thought you were the most beautiful person I ever saw. And when I started talking to you I realized that you were smart and funny and nice and I would do anything for you. Please believe me when I say I want you and only you. Please, Percy” 

Percy still was trying to process what was happening. He honestly didn’t believe anyone would like him, much less his crush. It didn’t seem possible. He couldn’t even think of how to respond, so he just nodded. 

Oliver was so excited by his answer all he could think to do was kiss him. Percy wasn’t expecting it but as soon as he got used to it he kissed him back. It felt more right than anything he’s ever done. 

After they pulled apart, neither of them could stop smiling. As much as they wanted to keep on kissing each other, both of them had to get home. Luckily Percy didn’t live too far from Oliver. 

Percy insisted to be dropped off at the end of his driveway. Oliver was hesitant, it was still raining, but he obliged him. He kissed him and started walking home. 

For a long time, Percy thought no one would ever love him in that way, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe no one else would need to if Oliver did. He had read many stories and poems and plays about true love and none of them fully expressed what it would feel like. Was it too soon to talk about true love? Perhaps it was but Percy didn’t care. This was the start of something real and something happy, it just had to be.


End file.
